Hands-On Preview: Star Wars Outlaws Is More Than Just Space Uncharted (2024)

I’m a casual Star Wars fan. I like the movies, love the Andor show, and enjoyed my time with Jedi: Fallen Order when it released in 2019. I’m less of an open-world video game fan, though, preferring either smaller-scale or linear experiences. So, needless to say, when it came to Star Wars Outlaws, my expectations for the game were virtually nonexistent.

Over the course of an hour at this year's Summer Game Fest, I got to play through 3 missions, each highlighting specific elements that round out the scoundrel gameplay loop from Star Wars Outlaws: exploration, action, and space combat.

And while there’s room to criticize how some of the mechanics may feel derivative of games from other series (I’m sure you’ve seen the Uncharted comparisons by now), my time with the game quickly persuaded me that what Massive Entertainment is cooking is shaping up to be something special.

THE WRECK

The Wreck begins aboard a derelict High Republic cruiser that has been sitting long-abandoned after a crash landing. Dust, sand, and overgrown foliage fill the now empty bows of the vessel; the only visible light are the harsh rays that manage to squeeze their way through the cracks and holes left from years of deterioration. It’s up to us to explore it.

Visually, it’s stunning to look at - and it’s clear Massive Entertainment are proud of the fidelity they’ve achieved with Outlaws.

What follows is your typical platforming mission, with Kay, jumping, swinging, and climbing her way deeper toward the ship’s bridge. While there were the occasional side rooms to loot and explore, reaching the main objective was ultimately a linear experience. Albeit, one that felt fairly player-involved to complete.

Along the way, locked doors gate-kept progression further into the ship. To unlock them, I had to overload small generators - each connected by a short powerline - by switching my blaster to Ion mode and shooting them with electricity. Although these generators were never too far from any given door, there was a small degree of searching I had to do to solve these mini-puzzles.

A highlight was the timed platforming sections. As Kay gradually brought the ship’s power back to life, so too did the gears and machinations of the cruiser begin to move once again. To avoid losing handholds or being squished to death by large-moving generators, I had to quickly jump and climb my way through several obstacles.

All of this felt surprisingly good to control, with a certain level of stickiness given to Kay’s platforming. With the exception of two instances where Kay collided and slipped off a ledge I had jumped to, there was none of the typical jank I expect out of large, open-world games, let alone a Ubisoft game.

If there was a mission statement Ubisoft wanted to make with the bulk of this level, it’s that their platforming, as much as everything else, was made just as equally well-crafted.

After reaching the bridge, two imperial troopers enter the room on alert. I hide behind the ship’s main controls as I promptly switch my blaster back to the deadly Plasma module. Aiming for the head, I quickly take out one of the troopers before running out of cover and rushing the remaining soldier with a melee flurry. I’m in the clear, for now.

As I attempt to make my escape, the ship begins to fall apart. My only option is to run and slide my way out in what I can only expect is one of many set pieces Outlaws will have to offer.

Scrambling through the now falling apart hallways and down broken floors, I manage to reach my speeder. I climb on and throttle into the desert, rushing down a dirt path toward a small canyon before the screen fades to black.

THE RELIC

In The Relic, Kay is tasked with infiltrating a syndicate hideout to steal a precious artifact. I’m told my actions as a known scoundrel have consequences and my reputation with the Ashiga clan hangs in the balance.

If I want to gain favorable reputation with Queen Ashiga, I can’t fail the mission.

Sneaking through a vent, I manage to make my way into the clan hideout. It’s a restricted area and there are guards and locked doors keeping me from my goal. I’d have to take these guys out quietly.

I manage to take out two that are in my way before making it to a locked door. To override it Kay takes out her Rhythmic Spike, as the lock must be opened by matching the sound of the beat on the door. A small yellow light and controller vibrations provide additional senses to help us crack it open.

To my delightful surprise, the rhythmic spike worked in real-time. As I listened to the beat of the lock, I could glance over my shoulder from left to right in case of any incoming guard. It was too late, though. I was spotted by a guard making their way up the stairs. It was time to fight.

Quickly, I closed out of the lock’s menu, sprinting straight at the guard to take him out as soon as possible. My rush of melee attacks weren’t quick enough and the guards were now on full alert. I was in the midst of a large shootout.

Rolling and sliding from cover to cover, I continued blasting at my foes. Since there’s no ammunition, I only ever had to worry about overheating my blaster. But gameplay didn’t stop even when I did, as Massive Entertainment implemented an active reload: pressing the trigger at just the right point on the slider to get me back into the action faster.

After enough kills, I gained the ability to activate my Adrenaline Rush: a slo-mo targeting system similar to the Dead Eye mechanic from the Red Dead Redemption games. I mark the remainder of the baddies left and trigger the execution, watching Kay shoot them down one by one. I’m now back in the clear.

It’s here where the Uncharted comparisons are easiest to parse out. While the combat itself is more than competent, the overall quality of these mechanics in motion will feel like games people are familiar with and prefer. And, while Outlaws certainly isn’t so much of a shooter – such as the previous Massive titles in the Division series – it ultimately feels a bit stiffer to control in comparison.

After stealing the relic, I spot an additional room I haven’t ventured into. There are lootable items up for grabs and a hackable terminal. Prompting the hack activates a glyph slicing mini-game. It’s essentially Wordle with 4 attempts at guessing the correct sequence in order to steal the data. With no upgrades currently available to help my slicer, I begin guessing and somehow succeed on the final turn.

With the syndicate none-the-wiser, I stroll back onto the streets of Kijimi City, ready to deliver the goods to Queen Ashiga. On my way, I spot question marks populating on my compass. I remember my nearly 20-minute mission sneaking through the clan hideout was happening inside an open world.

I grin with excitement. The scale of the game felt huge – but the quality, even in this side mission, never once felt compromised.

FALSE FLAG

I begin False Flag aboard an Imperial Space Station. My job here is to destroy data without raising the alarm. The problem? There are Stormtroopers everywhere.

For the first meaningful time in my demo, I’m able to utilize Nix, my little merquaal companion, to help distract my enemies.

By holding down the left bumper, I can command Nix to a number of things. On the other side of the room, there’s a Stormtrooper leaning up against a wall that is watching a terminal I need to reach. Marking the trooper, Nix runs over and distracts him by scurrying in front of him, giving me enough time to run over and take him down.

After destroying the data, it’s time to high-tail it toward my ship waiting for me in the hangar. A squad of Stormtroopers are waiting for me though and the only way past them is through. It’s time for another shootout.

The enemies are much stronger this time around. They’re equipped with plasma shields and high-powered blasters. I have no choice but to hide behind cover.

Using the left bumper yet again, Nix is able to grab a nearby gun and bring it to me. It’s much stronger than my current blaster. I take out a few, giving me a long enough opening to sprint straight to my ship.

The Empire is relentless, however, and I find myself in the middle of a dogfight against a number of Tie fighters. Kay comments that my best odds are to take them on in a nearby asteroid field.

Immediately, I began to make comparisons with Starfield. It’s the most recent AAA title I can think of that I’ve played that features ship combat. In short, Outlaws’ space combat is made simplistic but still involved enough to feel exciting. There are dodge maneuvers, boosters, and a soft lock-on mechanic that makes shooting down enemy fighters feel thoroughly satisfying.

I’m in the clear, but fighting the Empire has given me a wanted level. I’m prompted to head to a nearby orbiting satellite to hack in and clear my bounty before heading planet-side to complete my mission.

Once in orbit, there are three distinct locations to choose from for Kay to land. Picking one prompts a landing sequence on the surface of the planet. It’s all real-time - a disguised loading screen of dense clouds and mist, sure, but one that refuses to break a sense of immersion.

The city itself is dense. There are plenty of quirky characters to talk to and interact with. There’s steam, dirt, trash, neon signs, and the retro-futurism waste you’d expect from this era of the Star Wars world.

This is the seedy underbelly side of Star Wars we’ve been marketed to for years but never truly seen. And now we’re living in it. Roleplaying in it.

Stumbling through the narrow streets, I find myself in a gambling ring - one that is surprisingly more involved than I could have expected. An alien man down on his luck notices my winnings and asks for a small donation. I oblige him and he promises he won’t let me down and to return to him later.

This is when the scope of the game really hit me. That, even if this one man asking for money wasn’t a super involved sidequest, my interaction with him was a result of emergent gameplay. In the sea of open-world game slop, what Massive has so confidently achieved feels dense, curated, and engaging. And the scope of playing as a Star Wars scoundrel flew beyond any expectations I thought I had.

While there are certainly nitpicks with how the moment-to-moment gameplay might feel overall, there’s enough craft in Outlaws’ design that separates it from comparisons to other titles in the action-adventure genre. And if the hour I spent with the game was only a small taste of what we can expect, then I’m definitely excited to see what other nefarious adventures I get myself into once the game is released.

You can check out all of our coverage from this year's Summer Game Fest right here.

Star Wars Outlaws

Platform(s)

PC , PS5 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S

Released

August 30, 2024

Developer(s)

Massive Entertainment